MULTIPLEXING

Multiplexing is the set of techniques that allows the simultaneous

transmission of multiple signals across a single data link.

As data and telecommunications use increases, so does traffic.

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 Dividing a link into channels
Most communication systems require the sharing of channels
Shared media is common in cable television, telephone systems,
and data communications

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Categories of multiplexing

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 1. Frequency-division multiplexing

Applications: AM and FM radio broadcasting.

AM – each station requires 10kHz BW
FM - each station requires 200kHz BW
Television broadcasting – Each TV channel 6MHz BW.

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 FDM process

Unused bandwidth-guard bands-to prevent signals from overlapping

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Problem
Assume that a voice channel occupies a bandwidth of 4 kHz. We
need to combine three voice channels into a link with a bandwidth of
12 kHz, from 20 to 32 kHz. Show the configuration, using the
frequency domain. Assume there are no guard bands.

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Problem
Five channels, each with a 100-kHz bandwidth, are to be multiplexed
together. What is the minimum bandwidth of the link if there is a
need for a guard band of 10 kHz between the channels to prevent
interference?

Solution
For five channels, we need at least four guard bands. This means that 
the required bandwidth is at least 
5 × 100 + 4 × 10 = 540 kHz, 

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 2. Wavelength-division multiplexing
WDM the multiplexing and de-multiplexing involve light
signals transmitted through optical fiber.

High-data-rate

One application of WDM is the SONET network.

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Prisms in wavelength-division multiplexing
and demultiplexing

Combining and splitting of light sources are easily handled by a

prism. The prism bends a beam of light based on angle of
incidence and frequency.
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3. Time Division Multiplexing

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 A. Synchronous TDM
In synchronous TDM, each input connection has an allotment in
the output even if it is not sending data.

Frame - one complete cycle of time slots

N input lines – each frame n slots.
All slots – same data rate.
Interleaving : As switch opens in front of a device, that device has the opportunity to send11a
specified amount of data onto the path. Switch moves device to device at constant rate.
Problem
Four channels are multiplexed using TDM. If each channel sends
100 bytes /s and we multiplex 1 byte per channel, show the frame
traveling on the link, the size of the frame, the duration of a frame,
the frame rate, and the bit rate for the link.

Solution
Size of each frame, is 4 bytes, or 32 bits.
Frame rate must be (400bytes/4bytes for 1frame)100 frames/sec.
The bit rate is 100 × 32, or 3200 bps.
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Problem
A multiplexer combines four 100-kbps channels using a time slot of
2 bits. Show the output with four arbitrary inputs. What is the frame
rate? What is the frame duration? What is the bit rate? What is the
bit duration?

Solution
The frame duration is 1/50,000 s or 20 μs.
The frame rate is 50,000 frames per second,
Each frame carries 8 bits;
Bit rate is 50,000 × 8 = 400,000 bits or 400 kbps.
The bit duration is 1/400,000 s, or 2.5 μs. 13
 Framing bits

Synchronization – major issue in TDM.

One or more Synchronization bits are added to the beginning of each frame – Framing bits.
Framing bits - allows de-multiplexer to synchronize with the incoming stream.

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Problem

We have four sources, each creating 250 characters per second. If the interleaved
unit is a character and 1 synchronizing bit is added to each frame, find
(a) the data rate of each source,
(b) the duration of each character in each source,
(c) the frame rate,
(d) the duration of each frame,
(e) the number of bits in each frame, and
(f) the data rate of the link.

Solution
a. The data rate of each source is 250 × 8 = 2000 bps = 2 kbps.
b. Each source sends 250 characters per second; therefore, the duration of a 
character is 1/250 s, or 4 ms.
c. Frame rate : 250 frames per second
d. The duration of each frame is 1/250 s, or 4 ms.
e. Each frame carries 4 characters and 1 extra synchronizing bit. This means that 
each frame is 4 × 8 + 1 = 33 bits.
f. Data rate : 250 * 33
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 B. Asynchronous TDM (Statistical TDM)
Synchronous TDM is not as efficient : Each input has a reserved
slot in the output frame.

Statistical TDM can improve the BW efficiency by removing the

empty slots from the frame.

The multiplexer checks each input line in round robin fashion; it

allocates a slot for an input line if the line has data to send;
otherwise, it skips the line and checks the next line.

In Synchronous TDM, some slots are empty because the

corresponding line does not have data to send.
In Statistical TDM no slot is left empty as long as there are data to
be sent.
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 Difference between Synchronous and
Asynchronous TDM

Asynchronous TDM :Bandwidth efficient

Drawback : Needs addressing overhead; It is efficient only when the
size of the time slots is kept relatively large. 17
 Data Rate Management
How to handle input data rates.
We assumed data rates of all input lines were same.
If data rates are not same – different strategies.

1. Multilevel multiplexing: When data rate of an

input line is a multiple of others.

2. Multiple-slot multiplexing: To allot more than

one slot in a frame to a single input line.

3. Pulse stuffing: Bit rates of the source are not

multiple integers of each other – add dummy bits
to the input line with lower rates.
Pulse stuffing or bit padding or bit stuffing 18
 Problem
Two channels, one with a bit rate of 100 kbps and another
with a bit rate of 200 kbps, are to be multiplexed. How this
can be achieved? What is the frame rate? What is the
frame duration? What is the bit rate of the link?
Solution
We can allocate one slot to the first channel and two slots 
to the second channel. 
Each frame carries 3 bits. The frame rate is 100,000 frames 
per second because it carries 1 bit from the first channel. 

The bit rate is 100,000 frames/s × 3 bits per frame, or 300 
kbps. 
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 Digital hierarchy
Telephone companies implement TDM through a hierarchy of digital signals – DS service.
DS0 – a single digital channel of 64kbps.
DS1 – 24times of 64kbps + 8kbps over head. = 1.544Mbps
DS2 – 96 times of 64kbps + 168kbps overhead = 6.312Mbps.

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 DS and T line rates

Telephone companies use T-lines.

These lines with capacities matched to the data rate of DS-1 to DS-4 services.

So far only T1 and T3 lines are commercially available.

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T-1 line for multiplexing telephone lines

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T-1 frame structure

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Transmission Media

1. Guided Media
2. Un-Guided Media

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 Transmission Media

A transmission medium can be broadly defined as anything

that can carry information from a source to a destination.

The transmission medium is usually free space, metallic cable, or

fiber-optic cable.

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Classes of transmission media

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 1. Twisted-pair cable
Twisted pair consists of two conductors each surrounded by an
insulating material.

One of the wires is used to carry signals to the receiver, and the
other is used only as a ground reference.

Insulation reduces the heat transfer.

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Noise on Twisted-Pair Lines

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The most common twisted-pair cable used in communications is
referred to as unshielded twisted-pair (UTP).
Advantage: Cheap , flexible and easy to install.

Shielded twisted-pair (STP): STP cable has a metal foil or

braided mesh covering that encases each pair of insulated
conductors. Metal casing improves the quality of cable by
preventing the penetration of noise or crosstalk

STP is more expensive than UTP but less susceptible to noise.

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UTP Connectors

The most common UTP

connector is RJ45 (RJ stands
for registered jack)
Cat 5 cable
Pins : 4,5,7 ,8 – Not used.
Pin1 : Tx data (+)
Pin 2: Tx data (-)
Pin 3: + Rx data
Pin 6: - Rx pin 30
 UTP Performance

Gauge is a measure of thickness of the wire 31

 Coaxial cable

Coaxial cable carries signals of higher frequency ranges than those in twisted pair
cable.
Instead of having two wires, coax has a central core conductor of solid or
stranded wire (usually copper)

Outer metallic wrapping - protects from noise.

Whole cable is protected by a plastic cover 32
 Categories of coaxial cables
Coaxial cables are categorized by their radio government (RG)
ratings

10Base2

10Base5

Name Max Cable Len

10Base5 500 meters

10Base2 185 meters
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 BNC connectors
To connect coaxial cable to devices, we need coaxial connectors.
BNC- Bayonet Network Connector.

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 Coaxial cable performance

Although coaxial cable has a much higher bandwidth, the signal

weakens rapidly and requires the frequent use of repeaters. 35
 Application
Coaxial cable was widely used in analog telephone networks where
a single coaxial network could carry 10,000 voice signals.

Later it was used in digital telephone networks where a single

coaxial cable could carry digital data up to 600 Mbps.

However, coaxial cable in telephone networks has largely been

replaced today with fiber-optic cable.

Another common application of coaxial cable is in traditional

Ethernet LANs. Because of its high bandwidth, and consequently
high data rate, coaxial cable was chosen for digital transmission in
early Ethernet LANs.
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 Optical Fibre
Optical fibre is made of glass and transmits signal in the form of
light.

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 Bending of light ray

Change of ray direction : If a ray of light travelling through one substance

suddenly enters another substance – ray speed changes
Critical : Angle of incidence that provides an angle of refraction of 90-degrees.
Reflection : When the angle of incidence becomes greater than the critical angle .

For the water-air boundary, the critical angle is 48.6-degrees.

glass-water boundary, the critical angle is 61.0-degrees

Optical fibres use reflection to guide light through a channel.

Information is encoded on to a beam of light of on-off flashes 38
Fiber construction

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Optical fiber performance

7.40
 Advantage – Optical Fibre
Noise resistance - Electromagnetic noise cannot affect fiber-optic cables
External light is the only possible interference – Outer jacket

Less signal attenuation – A signal can run for miles without requiring
regeneration. [50 km without regeneration]

Higher Bandwidth - Data at a rate of 1600 Gbps. Currently data rates and
bandwidth utilization is limited not by the medium but by the signal
generation and reception technology available.

Resistance to corrosive materials.

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 Disadvantage

Cost : Laser light source

Installation / maintenance : Any roughness or cracking in the core

of an optical cable diffuses light and alter the signal.

Unidirectional light propagation: If we need bidirectional

communication, two fibers are needed

Fragility: Glass fibre is more easily broken than wire, making it

less useful for applications where hardware portability is required.

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 UNGUIDED MEDIA: WIRELESS

Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves without using a

physical conductor. This type of communication is often referred
to as wireless communication.

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Propagation methods

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Wireless transmission waves

short-range communication
Microwaves are unidirectional.
Cannot penetrate walls.
Line of sight
Narrowly focused

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46
 TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENT
• Signals  travel  through  transmission  media,  which  are  not 
perfect.  The  imperfection  causes  signal  impairment.  This 
means that the signal at the beginning of the medium is not the 
same  as  the  signal  at  the  end  of  the  medium.  What  is  sent  is 
not what is received. 
• Three  causes  of  impairment  are  attenuation,  distortion,  and 
noise.

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 1. Attenuation
Signal strength falls off with distance – depends on medium.
Received signal strength must be:
strong enough to be detected
sufficiently higher than noise to receive without error
so increase strength using amplifiers/repeaters

• Suppose  a  signal  travels  through  a  transmission  medium  and  its 

power is reduced to one­half. This means that P2 is (1/2)P1.

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 Problem
A signal travels through an amplifier, and its power is increased 10 times. 

This means that P2 = 10P1 . 

In this case, the amplification (gain of power) can be calculated as

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 Problem
• If the signal at the beginning of a cable has a power of 2 mW, with 
loss of −0.3 dB/km what is the power of the signal at 5 km?
Solution
• The  loss  in  the  cable  in  decibels  is  5  ×  (−0.3)  =  −1.5  dB.  We  can 
calculate the power as

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 2. Distortion
• Distortion ­ the signal changes its form or shape.

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 3. Noise
• Noise is another cause of impairment
• Thermal noise : random motion of electrons in a wire.
• Induced noise comes from sources such as motors
• Crosstalk a signal from one line is picked up by another.
• Impulse  noise  is  a  spike  that  comes  from  lightning.  A  noise 
spike could corrupt many bits

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 Problem

The power of a signal is 10 mW and the power of the noise is 1 μW; 
what are the values of SNR and SNRdB ?

Solution
The values of SNR and SNRdB can be calculated as follows: 40dB.

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 Data Rate limits
• A very important consideration in data communications is how fast we
can send data, in bits per second over a channel.

• Data rate depends on three factors:

1. The bandwidth available
2. The level of the signals we use
3. The quality of the channel (the level of noise)

Two theoretical formulas were developed to calculate the data rate:

Nyquist for a noiseless channel.
Shannon for a noisy channel.

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• For a noiseless channel, the Nyquist bit rate formula defines 
the theoretical maximum bit rate

Consider  a  noiseless  channel  with  a  bandwidth  of  3000  Hz 

transmitting  a  signal  with  two  signal  levels.  The  maximum  bit 
rate can be calculated as

Consider  the  same  noiseless  channel  transmitting  a  signal  with 

four signal levels (for each level, we send 2 bits). The maximum 
bit rate can be calculated as

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 We  need  to  send  265  kbps  over  a  noiseless  channel  with  a 
bandwidth of 20 kHz. How many signal levels do we need?
Solution
We can use the Nyquist formula as shown:

Since this result is not a power of 2, we need to either increase the 
number of levels or reduce the bit rate. 
If we have 128 levels, the bit rate is 280 kbps. 
If we have 64 levels, the bit rate is 240 kbps.

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 Noisy Channel: Shannon Capacity
• In reality, we cannot have a noiseless channel; the channel is 
always noisy.
• To determine the theoretical highest data rate for a noisy 
channel

We  can  calculate  the  theoretical  highest  bit  rate  of  a  regular 
telephone  line.  A  telephone  line  normally  has  a  bandwidth  of 
3000. The signal­to­noise ratio is usually 3162. For this channel 
the capacity is calculated as

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• Assume that SNRdB = 36 and the channel bandwidth is 2 MHz. 
The theoretical channel capacity can be calculated as

The Shannon capacity gives us the upper limit; the Nyquist 
formula tells us how many signal levels we need. 58